Nevermore
by FreeToRun
Summary: My version of Nevermore. Follows the story with the same ideas, but different plots. With the end of the world approaching, Max still has to somehow save it. Also on the list involves finding Angel, figuring out her feelings, fighting off enemies, and dealing with a new problem that will make doing all this difficult. Hint: it involves throwing up, weight gain, mood swings, etc.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so I've decided to write my own version of Nevermore and I hope you guys like it! It's different than the original, but all the major themes are the same! I've also added my own twist for Max. Enjoy!**

* * *

_Max_

I lied back in my bed, sighing. We were back in our secluded home in Oregon. Nobody quite knew what our next move was. All I knew is that I wanted to curl up in a ball and fall asleep, never wanting to wake up again. We had been back from Paris for two months now and all anyone could do was mope around the house and cry quietly. My routine sort of went like this: Wake up in the late morning, think about Angel, tread downstairs to sullen faces, eat the cold breakfast Iggy had made earlier, watch Gazzy stare blankly at the wall, listen to Nudge's quiet sobs, get mad at Iggy for no reason because all he does is try to cheer me up, shove Dylan away because he tries to comfort me, go for a long mindless flight, hide in my room and think about all the horrible things in my life, take a nap, raid the cupboard, sit in front of the T.V surrounded by depressed people, either hug and cry to Dylan or shove him away depending on the day, eat dinner in my room, attempt to sleep but continue being woken up by nightmares. And repeat. My baby was gone. Angel was never coming back. I hated talking about her, so the others tried not to bring it up, but just by walking in the room, anyone could tell she was all we could think about. Whatever was left of the old Maximum Ride no longer existed as far as I could tell. The two people who I loved the most in this world and could not live without were gone. That leaves me pretty close to gone too I guess.

I watched the morning light reflect off the mirror in my small room. Suddenly, my stomach churned and I found myself rushing out of the room to empty it in the bathroom. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention I spent my mornings there recently? On top of all this, I was sick I guess. Or maybe I ate some bad food or something. I really hadn't worried about the food shopping and sometimes forgot to throw out the bad stuff and replace it. I hadn't told the others and wondered if they experienced the same urges to suddenly puke. I made a mental note to check for bad food when I went downstairs. I was beginning to get annoyed by waking up and having to empty my stomach. After I cleaned myself up, I went downstairs and prepared myself for the miserable day without Angel in my head or Fang by my side. I had been getting used to a Fangless life and having Dylan, but only Fang loved Angel as much as I did and Dylan could never replace that. That morning I was feeling a little more emotional than usual and allowed tears to escape as I entered the kitchen.

Dylan was by my side in seconds. He hugged me and I knew that I just had to get one good long sloppy disgusting cry in before I could clear my head and come up with a plan on what to do next. When I was done and feeling totally embarrassed, I looked up at Dylan's blue eyes filled with concern. "Max?" He asked, I looked around and saw all the other faces looking at me with confused looks. I never, and I mean _never_ broke down like this in front of the flock. The flock. _My _flock. I looked at the faces of the kids I practically raised. Two of them may be missing, possibly gone forever, but I still had these three and Dylan of course. Suddenly something in my mind snapped. I needed to be Maximum Ride again. I needed to be the fearless leader. I didn't need Fang anymore since I had Dylan who would do anything for me at the snap of a finger. The others needed me as well. Especially Gazzy, the youngest member now, who was only 9 and lost his little sister. At least I think he's 9, we really don't know our exact ages and throw a birthday party so we all age at once whenever it tickles our fancies. I'm supposedly 15 or 16, but who really knows.

As I was contemplating my new revelation, the rest of the flock remained frozen, trying to read my face. "I'm okay." I said. For the first time in forever I sounded like I really was okay. My voice didn't quiver and grow soft. I rang with authority and confidence. I looked at their faces that seemed even more concerned and confused than before. I was too. I made another note to remember to start controlling my emotions again. I still had an aching in my heart that would never go away, but I tried to push it aside and go forward with a new purpose.

"Oh." Was all Dylan could manage. I shook myself out of his arms and gazed over my family, trying to seem in charge.

"So, Ig." I began, "What did you make us for breakfast?"

He seemed caught off guard by my sudden alertness. Normally I was a zombie who walked around in a depressed daze. _Not anymore_. I thought to myself.

"Um, there are some scrambled eggs in the fridge for you." He replied.

I nodded my head to him, then added a "thanks" because he couldn't see me, obviously being blind and all. I made my way over to the refrigerator and suddenly stopped. "Did you check to see if they were expired?" I asked, remembering the fact that I couldn't stop puking.

"Uh, they weren't." He replied. "I don't think any of the food in there is. Why?"

I wondered if I should tell them, but decided against it. Nobody else seemed to be experiencing this and I didn't want them to worry now that I was trying to be a leader again. It would pass sooner or later. "Just wondering," I said back coolly as I opened the door to grab my food. "I think I need to go shopping again." The fridge looked pretty pathetic considering the amount of food a bunch of bird-kids eat, which, by the way, is _a lot_. I could feel their eyes burning into me with every move I made. I understood they were just wondering why I suddenly came out of my little coma. "Guys," I attempted to reassure them, "I really am fine." They looked doubtful, but let me eat in peace nonetheless. _Finally deciding to do your job again, huh Max?_ Completely caught off guard, I screamed and my fork full of food went crashing to the ground. So unlike me to get caught off guard like that and be all jumpy, I immediately was filled with furry at myself for being so stupid and my lovely Voice for being so annoying. "Long time no hear." I muttered bitterly. Again, everyone came rushing over to me to see what the matter was. Was this self-sufficient strong leader thing always so hard? I quickly told them I stepped on a piece of glass, but I was fine. Nobody knew about my Voice, and quite frankly, I wanted to keep it that way.

Oh yeah, for those of you who don't know, I have a Voice. I can hear it in my head. It comes and goes as it pleases, often leaving annoying messages and not answering my questions. I have no idea who it is or where it comes from, but it's been there for quite a while. I used to think it was Jeb, but now I'm not sure. Either way, it suddenly decided to pop up after being gone for so long and I hated it. After I was able to calm everyone down, I started eating and waited for it to appear again. _Hello Maximum Ride. It has been a while._ I rolled my eyes at the ominous Voice. I really had no idea what it was. _Oh, Max. You think you're finally safe, but what if she is still out there-alive?_ That made me jolt up. I made sure nobody was watching my strange movements. _Angel?_ I thought, _Could she still be alive?_ I wasn't even something I had considered. After I saw the bloody sneaker I lost it and it took just over a month to get my head back on straight. _Could my baby still be out there somewhere?_

_Max, Max, Max_. If the Voice showed emotion, I could see it making a "tsk" sound. _Think. Is she really dead and gone just like that? _For the first time ever, the more the Voice spoke, the more sense it made. I suddenly knew what I needed to do. I needed to find Angel. I was going to thank the Voice or come up with some sarcastic remark, when it decided to throw me a curve ball and go right back to being the stupid, annoying Voice it always was. _You be careful Max. Actions have consequences and you could find yourself with an extra problem if you are careless. _Huh? I went right back to being confused again. That's the Voice we all know and love! _Um, could you please be a little clearer with me?_ I thought, but of course I was met with silence. Once again, I was filled with rage. I attempted to sort out my thoughts while finishing my meal.

Okay, so what do I know? I know that Iggy, Gazzy, Nudge, and Dylan are safe and here with me. Worried and depressed, but safe. We can work with that. I know that Angel could possibly still be alive. But I don't know for sure and I have no idea where she could be or what condition she is in. Was she captured? Was she rescued? Did she manage to fly away on her own? All these thoughts cluttered my brain and I shook my head to clear it. Back to the basics. So, who else? Oh right, Fang. Fang. My head and heart ached when I thought of him, so I often tried not to. I honestly didn't know where he was or what he was doing. I could only assume he was off with his own new gang after he left me for the second time. They supposedly were going to go off and save the world, which last time I checked was my job. Okay, so I wasn't doing too great, but how far could those wingless freaks (and Fang and his lovely Maya of course) go? He said that when we get together, all Hell breaks loose and we are better off apart. Sure, I knew this was true after seeing what happened in Paris, but I still didn't want him to go. I was overcome with a sense of longing, but forced myself to look at the facts. Fang was gone. He left me after everything we went through and he is never going to come back to me. He freaking replaced me with…well me!

Again, I shook my head to clear those thoughts. I was getting really bad at controlling my feelings. Ugh, it made me feel so weak and vulnerable. Maximum Ride is not weak and vulnerable. I have carefully built walls that no one can penetrate. Too bad they seemed to be crumbling lately. Okay, who's next? Total? Check, safe with me. Ella. My mom. Jeb. Thoughts of all those people hit me like a ton of bricks and I almost fell out of my chair. I was relieved that nobody was looking at me anymore because between the crying, screaming, Voice, and my thoughts, I probably looked like a complete mental case. I honestly thought I was going to throw up again, so I dropped my plate on the counter and sprinted back upstairs to puke out everything I just ate. Yeah, I really looked like a winner this morning.

After I was done throwing up all over the toilet, I went to leave the bathroom and get some air, when I looked up to see a wide eyed Dylan standing in the doorway. Just great.

"Are you okay Max?" He asked, his voice filled with so much concern I would have thrown up again if there was anything left in me.

"Just peachy." I growled, shoving past him to get out of room.

He caught my arm, "Max. You just threw up. Does this have anything to do with what you were saying this morning about the bad food? Because I know all the food is good. I keep the kitchen stocked."

"Well good for you." I didn't even know what was going on, so I really didn't want Dylan to start prying me for information just then. "Aren't you just wonderful? Keeping us all fed." What was wrong with me? Dylan didn't deserve any of this and yet I knew my mean tone and cold words were like daggers to him. I needed to get out of there. Fast.

"Max…" He began. I just quietly grumbled a few unintelligent words, hoping he would just let me be.

Finally, I looked up at him, "Dylan, please. Just let me go for a flight to clear my head." He opened his mouth and I knew what he was going to say. "Alone." I stated before walking past him and going outside.

The fresh air felt amazing whipping around me. I soared high above the mountain tops, making the trees below me look like ants. I grinned and breathed in the cool mountain air. This was the absolute best thing about my screwed up life. Just flying. It almost made me feel sorry for normal kids who didn't have wings. Seriously, best therapy ever. Finally, I decided to think and sort out my mind. Right now I needed to focus on getting my Angel back and nothing else. Just take everything one step at a time. I wondered where she could be. I mean lots of psycho scientists and gazillionaires wanted us dead. Our latest and greatest enemy was Dr. HG. Could he have taken her? The last time I spoke with him, he was blabbering on about me and Dylan reproducing and heirs and the future and blah blah blah. He didn't seem like someone who would take her. Then there's the One Light freak show. Maybe they took her. Plan to preform rituals or something and get the rest of us on their side. Maybe, but for some reason I couldn't see it. Especially after what happened in Paris. I thought more and more as I flew farther and farther away. This wasn't somebody new. This was somebody who we knew. Where it all started. The only people who truly know what we are capable of. We are their pride and joy. I'm their golden child. They created me to survive the apocalypse. Everything else that has happened is just a result of that. They've taken her before and they have her now. The realization dawned on me and I knew where we were headed next. I would give anything to go anywhere but there. Anywhere. Not Antarctica, no dry desert, not anywhere near Europe, or any other country for that matter. No, we had to go to California. We had to go to the School.

I sped back to the house and quickly told everyone my plan. At first, they freaked. I mean, I don't blame them. Our worst and oldest memories go back there. We were experimented on, tortured, forced to watch others die from experimentation, lived in dog crates, and constantly brushed death. I hated it just as much as everyone else, except Dylan of course who was only a clone of someone dead and never grew up in the School, but it was the only way to get my baby back. And I would do anything to save my baby.

So, that was it. We had a plan and started making preparations. My life suddenly had a new purpose. My routine suddenly became more like this: wake up, eat breakfast with the flock, go for a morning flight, do research and training, discuss plans for Angel's escape, eat (I've been doing that a lot lately), sleep, just hang out like the good old days, etc. Anyway, it had improved greatly since my discussion with my Voice. I often thought about its last few words and wondered what it could possibly mean. What kind of trouble did the Voice think I was going to get into? The only thing that happened before it "visited" me was that we got back from Paris all sad and depressed. Then, I decided to become a leader again. Did it question my leadership abilities? Did it think I couldn't make good choices? I wanted to scream out loud at it, telling it I made perfectly fine decisions and I could take care of myself.

The only thing that seemed to be bringing me down was the fact that I woke up almost every morning puking my guts out. I still had no idea what was wrong with me and it was starting to wear thin on me. Dylan hadn't said anything about that time he walked in on one of my episodes, but I could feel his eyes on me every morning I walked down the stairs. I wondered if he knew that it happened more often than that one time. Since he didn't confront me about it, I never brought it up. It was one less thing for my recovering flock to worry about. After about two weeks since my proposal, we decided it was time to head off to the School. It was time to face our worst nightmares.

The morning we left was chilly yet refreshing. Perfect flying weather. Today, we were just going to get as far to California as we could. I tried not to think about what could have happened to Angel in a month and a half, but somehow my thoughts kept jumping there. Just as my crazy morning puking had stopped, that day it came back which did not put me off to a good start. I put my jacket on and spread my wings out through the slits in the back. The wind blew my hair all around my face and I attempted to tie it back. All around me, the flock was grinning in the excitement although we were on an intense mission. It was time to get my Angel back.

My heart soared just as my wings carried me higher and higher into the sky. I looked over to my right and saw Dylan flying gracefully next to me, his dark brown wings almost touching the tips of my hawk-like ones. He smiled at me, his deep turquoise eyes shining with genuine affection. It really didn't bother me that much anymore and I started to love his caring face next to me all the time. He was always there to hold me and listen. I smiled back then sped away a little ahead of the rest of them. After a while of flight, I heard Gazzy speak up from a little below me, "Hey, Max! I'm hungry! When can we stop and get something to eat?"

"Yeah, me too Max!" Iggy piped up, "Where are we anyway?" He asked.

I was curious as well, "I don't know, let's take a look!" I shouted back as I began a dive down and the others followed behind in suit. Swooping through the clouds, I saw a suburban neighborhood below. The rest of the flock flew around me curiously. "Let's keep going and see if there is anywhere to find some food and see what town we're in." I suggested and they nodded in agreement. We eventually found a city with a suitable place to eat. Yep, you bet it folks, Gazzy nearly dive bombed right out of the sky at the sight of those giant yellow arches- the gates of heaven as we like to call them. Complete with a large-shoed red-haired Jesus in a yellow jumpsuit.

"Whoop! Whoop!" He cried as Nudge quickly informed Iggy where we were and a huge grin stretched upon their faces as well.

"Well, it's not exactly a Parisian boulangerie, but I'm starved!" Total agreed as his little black wings carried him down into the back parking lot with the others. I rolled my eyes at their ridiculousness and I heard Dylan chuckle next to me. I had to admit though, I was _starved_. It has been so long since we took a flight this long.

"Hold up, we're coming too!" Dylan called as we began to zoom towards the ground. As we neared the restaurant, I was hit with the smell of greasy burgers and fries like I had run into a brick wall. For a second there, I had forgotten to flap it was so strong. "Max!" Dylan called; panic filling his voice as he watched me plummet a few feet. I caught myself, though as he swooped down next to me with his powerful brown wings. I was too busy gagging on the overpowering scent to notice.

"What the flying fig newton was that?" I was able to say as I was beginning to be accustomed to the smell. As Dylan landed next to me, he came over with a worried look in his eyes.

"Max." He grabbed my hands in his. At the sudden touch, my heart sped up a million times faster and I could feel heat rising up all over me. What was wrong with me? I couldn't look him in the eye. "Look at me Max. What's wrong? Are you okay? What happened?"

I focused strongly on calming down and looked to see my flock staring at me with confused, and, well scared, faces. "What?" I asked, "Does nobody smell that wretched stench too?"

They just looked at me. "Max, the only thing we can smell is the fries, but it's not that strong or anything…" Dylan explained like I was four. Now I was angry. Angry at myself. Angry at them. Angry at our enemies who were trying to take over the world. Angry at _everything._

"I'm fine." I snapped, shoving past them and walking up to the front door. We had come a long way in our lives and instead of hiding out all day and waiting to dumpster dive when it closed, we could just walk right in and buy whatever we wanted. We were being supported by our friend Nino Pierpont. He expected us to go to school and whatever, but we still had control of our own lives and had showed up for about two days before I nixed the idea completely. We had more important things to do and it was during what I refer to as my dark days of depression. It wasn't a proud experience.

I didn't even wait to see if they were following as I was so focused on calming down, regaining my dignity, and not gagging and puking.

After we all ordered about $100 of McDonald's food, we had to go outside because Total, much to his dismay, was not allowed in. Iggy suggested we get him a guide dog vest and he could walk him around with that, but I highly doubted that a little scottie would be leading around a blind teenager. I mean, that's just me.

We eventually found a park by a lake and sat down for our picnic. I really wasn't feeling well, but I knew that I'd need fuel and I was already beginning to tire. We had gotten far, though and I was proud of that. We'd be in California by tomorrow night. I wasn't sure exactly where the school was or how to get there, but luckily for us I knew it was secluded in northern California. I guess I was hoping I'd be able to hear Angel somehow. Just some sign she was alive and near.

Now full, we stretched out and lay down on the grass in front of the glistening lake. I lay on my stomach beside Dylan lazily. Well, not completely because I was in full alert mode 24/7. The others were off goofing around and hanging out. I was lost in thought about Angel when I felt Dylan's hand creep over towards me. I froze as he slowly reached over and touched my hand so gently. I just stared at our hands as I allowed mine to wrap around his. It was so warm and soft and gentle. Something I wasn't used to. He then lifted his head up and our eyes made contact. He gave me a smile and I couldn't help but find myself returning it.

"I love you Max." He said so hopefully my heart tightened.

"Yeah. I know. You were created to love me." I explained back. I really did feel bad for him. He couldn't help himself but to love me. He had to love me. And although I sure didn't feel the same way back, I certainly did feel _something. _And that thought both excited and frightened me.

* * *

**I hope you liked the beginning! Next chapter will include Fang's POV! Review your opinions please! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay, so here's chapter two! Thanks WithoutWings for reviewing it made me happy :)**

* * *

**Fang**

I sat by the fire we had made to keep warm in the desert nights. And those things can be friggen cold. I sighed as I poked the flames, unable to sleep. Every time I tried, I just kept thinking. And the last thing I wanted to do was think. I thought about Angel, Max, the flock. And I kept comparing them to this new gang. They were cool, but not my flock. I had left it, so I guess it wasn't even mine anymore. I needed to accept this new life and I knew this was the only way I could figure more about the 99% plan and what they were up to. After the disaster of Paris, there was no way that both the flock and my gang could work together. There was no way Max and I could work together anymore. I was kidding myself when I thought that we could be together again. It was sad, but impossible.

And then there was Angel. I had practically killed her. I was down in the tunnels with her and I had left her. I was so stupid, foolish, awful. I couldn't even protect Angel. How was I supposed to protect this gang? I remembered the look on Max's face when she realized Angel wasn't with us. She was so devastated and enraged. She literally looked like a mother whose baby I had killed. I loved Angel too, so much. She was like my little girl as well. I deserved all the misery I had felt. All of it. As my thoughts became more and more troubled, I had noticed I started to stab the fire angrily, causing sparks to fly everywhere. It took me a minute to return to my natural, calm, emotionless state. I was a rock. And that's the way I liked it.

Too caught up in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed Maya creep up behind me. "Fang?" She whispered as she put her hands on my shoulders. I sighed heavily at the touch. It was so familiar, yet so different. Hands I had known my entire life, but so gentle, delicate, unsure. Max's heart was hardened and complicated. Being with Maya was just so simple. But it screwed with my emotions like no other.

"What are you doing up?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." She said sweetly as she invited herself to squeeze into the chair with me. I looked over at her. Her face was so similar to Max's, but she had a short pixie cut for hair. She said it was easier shorter so she wouldn't have to deal with the snarly, wind-blown look, but I suspected it was to help differentiate herself from Max, the girl she was cloned from.

I shrugged, "Couldn't sleep."

"Me either." She sighed, moving over and pressing into my side, slightly shivering. Her body pressed into mine just felt so good. So right and yet so wrong at the same time. This girl wasn't Max, but when I looked at her felt her, listened to her, all the memories of Max came flooding back to me. "Isn't the desert so peaceful at night?" She asked dreamily. I wasn't sure what she was doing, but it made me uncomfortable.

"Uh, yeah." I replied, waiting for an eraser or flyboy come jumping out of the darkness at us. Talk about peace.

"Hey, why don't we go back to bed?" She asked, standing up and tugging at my arm. "We'll just put the fire out and go back into our sleeping bags." I looked wearily over and decided to give in. We made our way over to our sleeping bags that were next to each other and crawled in, our bags pressed up against each other's.

Out of habit, I woke up early the next morning and decided we needed to get a move on before we found ourselves facing trouble. As I was cleaning up and putting away my sleeping bag, Maya began to stir. "What are you doing?" She mumbled sleepily. She gave me an adorable early morning look that kicked up emotion in my heart. At this point, I wasn't even sure whose face that was. Was it Max's or Maya's?

"I'm getting ready to leave." I answered, "We need to get out of here and keep going on our mission as soon as possible. Help me wake the others up." I continued to move around, being quick and orderly, just like I had watched Max do a thousand times. Sure I was her right wing man, but she was always the leader. I had a new appreciation for her now that I was the sole leader of this little gang. "Come on, wake up." I began to go around shoving everyone with my foot. I was met with the middle finger from Ratchet, groans from Kate and Star, and a simple "no" from Holden. They were such average teenagers it scared me a little.

Once I had finally gotten them up and moving, the sun was all the way in the sky. I exchanged a glance at Maya and knew we were thinking the same thing. _If only we could just fly out of here. _But instead, we had to drive all the way to San Francisco. I suspected there was a lot of suspicious activity based on what I'd been reading on the internet. Now, we were about a six to seven hour car ride west. Again, it would have been much easier to fly, but only Maya and I could do that and we couldn't leave the rest of them. As annoying as they all could be, they were mine and I liked having them around. "Alright, everyone get in the car, we're leaving." I ordered as I started up the engine. Maya sat in the passenger's seat while the others piled in the back of the hippie van. Yes, we stole it from a bunch of whackjobs who lived out here.

We sped off across the open land. While the others talked the whole ride, I was focused on the goal ahead. We needed to get to San Francisco as fast as possible. Maya could tell that I was tense and tried to talk to me to calm me down. That was the thing about Maya; she was so nice and calming. She tried her best to be comforting to me, but could kick some serious butt when she had too. And I appreciated that about her. I could just talk to her and everything would become less stressful.

We had been driving for just over an hour when disaster struck. Maya and I were talking about our plans once we reached San Francisco and the others weren't paying attention in the back and goofing off when out of nowhere, something fell out of the sky and landed on the hood of the van with a loud thud. As it hit, Star let out a high-pitched scream of terror and Ratchet had to put his hands over his ears. I slammed on the brakes and looked forward in shock. What had fallen out of the sky and onto our car was a giant, winged Eraser by the name of Ari. My eyes widened. I had seen this dude die _twice! _Heck, I'd even _buried _him one time. How did he keep popping back up?

"Hello Fang." He sneered, "Want to come out and play?" Knowing I had no other option, I ordered everyone to remain in the car while I shut it off and slowly stepped out.

"What do you want Ari?" I asked coolly.

"Well, you know I've been hearing lots of interesting gossip about you kids lately. Quite interesting about Max and Dylan right? I even heard they were moving to Germany and having children, is that correct?" He laughed as I clenched my jaw at his words. I remembered the day Gazzy had said it casually, not knowing the amount of stress it would put on us. Like I needed to be reminded about Max and her perfect boyfriend. It was actually one of the most painful thoughts I could imagine. Max and Dylan running off and having children together. I shuddered at the thought. Ari kept talking, though, "But the most interesting one I heard is that you were going to be the first to die. Now, that one I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to do it myself, if you don't mind." As he spoke other Erasers began to land around him. "You ready for this Fang?"

Suddenly, the rest of my gang bolted from the van. "You're going to have to go through us to get to him." Maya snapped defensively as they all stood by me. She stood incredibly close and as we unfurled our wings, they touched. I was confused as to what was going on, but there was one thing I did know and that was how to fight. And I knew there was a fight coming. Ari just shrugged, "Fine." He waved an ugly hand-paw to his gang, "sick 'em boys." And with that, an all-out battle began. Three wolf hybrids jumped on me at once as Ari went after Maya and the others attacked. "Looking pretty rough sissy." I heard Ari growl to Maya as they descended upon each other.

"I'm not your sister!" She spat back angrily.

"Oh, right, you're the clone!" He exclaimed as he pinned her down, "I knew there was something wrong with you. Max isn't this weak." He taunted.

"That's it!" She shrieked as she jolted up into the air, Ari following right on her tail.

The idiots that had leaped on me had all the brawn, but no brains and I adjusted easily back into fight mode. I actually felt good to be kicking the living snot out of Erasers once again instead of all the emotion fighting that seemed to be happening lately. This was much easier to handle. The only real threat here was Ari, the others just clumsy, dumb clones and I knew I had to get him away from Maya. Around me, the rest of them fought bravely and used all their skills and strengths like I had told them. As I was shaking Eraser blood off my wings and was about to take off into the sky, he heard a shout from Star who was pinned under a large Eraser, his teeth too close to her throat. I lunged over and grabbed him with all my force, using my wings to push me. I was able to through him off long enough for Star to regain herself and we took the bozo down together. "Nice work Star" I panted.

"Thanks. You too. Now go help Maya, I've got it down here." She replied as she lunged onto another one, punching him square in the jaw. I nodded as I turned around to find them hundreds of feet up battling it out. Panicked, I prepared to takeoff, but as I was about to, Ari got in one good whack at her neck and gauged it with his powerful claws, knocking her out of the sky. She let out a quick yelp of pain, but then was silent as she fell. I swooped up and caught her midair as Ari remained where he was.

"Maya?" I grabbed her and held her close, but there was no response. Her brown eyes remained opened and her mouth was twisted in pain. She had blood all over her and huge scratches in her neck. She was gone. And the more I looked at her, the more I saw Max. Dead. This is what a dead Max looked like with open lifeless eyes and a limp cold body dripping in blood. It sickened me and I descended as fast as I could.

As I landed, though, she gasped hoarsely. "Fang. I couldn't…do it. I'm sorry. I'm just not Max."

"No Maya. Listen to me. Yes you are, you…" My voice trailed off as her eyes shut and I realized she was really gone. "_I'm _sorry Maya." I whispered as I laid her down.

It was then I realized all battling had stopped and the other members came running and limping over. Ari descended slowly from the sky. "Oops." He said offhandedly. "I killed your ex's clone."

Rage filled up inside of me as I stepped forward, but Kate beat me to it. In no time, she had hurdled a freaking car tire at his head. He had fast reflexes, though, and ducked just in time.

"Well, I suppose we should be going now." He mused, "Let's go mutts. Get up and move your lazy asses!" He began to walk away, but Holden stepped out.

"This isn't over!" He snapped, "We will meet you again! And we will kill you next time!"

Ari just chuckled as he took to the sky, "Can't wait! I'm counting on it!" We watched the mutants go, angry and sad over what they'd done. Ari was going to pay one of these days, I vowed.

We ended up burying Maya right there. We didn't have many tools, but did the best we could and gave her a proper grave and burial. She didn't deserve any of that and I felt numb over losing her. Once we were finished, we just sat around for a while, beat up and trying to wrap our minds around everything. Finally, Kate spoke up, "I don't think I can do this." She said quietly. "I'm sorry, but I just…can't. I'm not cut out for this life. Those things freaked me out enough and frankly I'm done with life or death situations. I'm sorry Fang, but I have to quit." She bent her head down as she spoke and I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"M-me too, Fang." Star spoke now. "I can't do this either. I'm going to quit now." She chimed in.

I snapped, "Fine. Leave then. Any of you who want to leave can do so now. Go on!" I said sternly, trying to control my anger through clenched teeth. I looked at the boys.

Ratchet shook his head, "Dude, I'm staying with you. We've got a job to do and I've got nowhere else to go. No one else to live for." He shrugged, "I'm here until you kick me out or I die."

"Yeah, same here." Holden agreed, "I'm not going anywhere Fang."

Now our gang was down to three. "Alright then." I stood up, "You two. Let's get in what's left of the van and continue on our way. You two," I looked over at the dirty, shaken girls, "bye." I was done and if they didn't want to come with me, I wasn't going to wait around for them to find their ways home.

Injured, tired, and dirty, we hopped in the van and took off to continue our journey to San Francisco. I looked over at the boys and wondered what would become of my only two remaining followers. Being a leader was hard work, I had no idea how Max did it.

**Max**

I stifled a yawn as I looked down into the forest, searching for a sign that a lab existed. It had been almost five days since we left Oregon to find Angel. I just knew she was here somewhere, I could feel it. Over and over I imagined the things they could be doing to her in there and it made my heart break every time I thought of it. It was starting to get dark and we had another day scanning the skies with no luck. I was so tired; I was ready to drop out of the sky any second. The rest of my flock seemed tired too after all this searching, but they still had a lot more energy than me. Not like I would ever admit that to any of them. I had no idea what was wrong with me, but I was miserable. I was tired, cranky, sick, uncomfortable, and I swear to God I had gained weight despite all that. I just felt gross and I tried so hard to keep it all to myself. It was especially hard to keep it from Dylan who had eyes like a hawk (no pun intended). But seriously, he watched and monitored every move I made. I knew he was worried, but I just played it off like it was nothing. Now that I was good at.

"Hey guys, it's getting dark. How about we land and call it a night?" I asked and they all nodded in response. We descended into the trees and began our search for a good place to sleep. We could have stayed in a hotel or something, but I had decided we better stay low profile and I knew the School would be nestled in the woods somewhere. I spotted a small clearing and swooped down, my flock in tow. We landed with quiet thuds, not only tired physically, but mentally and emotionally. We had been at this for days and nothing had been found. I was starting to get frustrated. What if I was completely wrong and I was leading them on an endless goose chase for a place that no longer existed. Besides, the schools were probably replaced long ago with much more technically advanced labs. I felt my jaw twitch in irritability as I opened up my backpack to find something to eat. Around me, everyone did the same, pulling out sleeping bags and provisions.

"Max, I ran out of water." Gazzy informed.

"And does anyone have extra food in their bags?" Iggy asked out loud. "I'm hungry and I've got nothing left."

"I need a new sleeping bag." Nudge mumbled as she pulled out her ripped one.

I sighed, "I know guys, I'm sorry." I looked over my flock. "Come here, Gazzy, I've got some for you." I told him as he slowly padded over.

"Thanks Max." he said as he gulped out of my bottle.

"Hey, Gaz." I looked at him, "We're going to find her. I promise I will not stop searching until I find an answer. I know she's here somewhere, I can feel it."

He nodded, giving me a little smile, "I know. I can just feel it too. She's close, isn't she?"

I returned his smile, engulfing him in a hug, "Yeah she is."

Later that night, I sat perched high in a tree, looking over my flock whose spirits had improved and were getting ready for the night. It was quiet all around and strangely, there was no sign of evil mutant trying to kill us. I was pretty sure this was a new record. I mean, they are everywhere we freaking look! I saw Dylan flapping up to come sit by me and scooted over so there was room. We still were pressed up close against each other on the branch, though. I could feel his head radiating off his body and I pressed into his side fully. I allowed myself to calm down and accept his presence. We were becoming closer and I started to rely on his calming presence, accepting that I needed some emotional support.

"How are you doing?" He asked me as we gazed down.

"Fine." I said tightly, "We just need to find Angel. That's all. Once we find her everything will be okay again." I really wanted to believe that. I knew it wasn't going to solve all our problems, but I was pretty sure finding her would solve most of my emotional problems I'd been having lately.

"It's okay, Max. You don't have to be so strong all the time. I know it's been tough." His soothing voice brought tears into my eyes. I needed to stop being so damn emotional.

I sniffled, "But I just feel like I have to be." My voice caught as I tried to speak. "I can't stop and think about how I feel because when I act on my feelings alone everything just gets all messed up. I need to be a leader. Because if not, I'm just weak and useless." I don't think I had ever spilled so many feelings all at once before.

Dylan grabbed my hands in his and pressed in even closer to me. "You know I will always be here for you."

"I know Dylan, thank you." I nodded as we sat together in the tree, my head rested on his shoulder. We opened our wings and they overlapped, fitting around us perfectly. Like we were made for each other. And I felt content, safe even. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.

It was in the middle of the night and we were all sleeping, except for Gazzy, who had been keeping watch. I was awoken by the noise of crashing around us and hands grabbing at me. I heard the screams and attempts of my flock to fight back at the surprise attack. I looked around and saw that Gazzy, who was supposed to wake us up if there was trouble, was lying on the ground with a tranquilizer arrow in his neck, as if it had been shot at him from a distance so he wouldn't be able to warn us of their arrival. I kicked and thrashed as Erasers pinned me down and tried to stab me with a needle while putting a sack over my head. We were caught off guard, though, and there were so many of them. As they managed to stab me in the back of the neck, I was paralyzed and began to slip into sleep. In my face sneered and ugly Eraser that I knew so well. My blood froze. _Ari. _He was alive. "Hello, sis. One Max down, one to go." He laughed, "Oh imagine how poor Fang must be feeling now." I then passed out to his laughter with one thought in my mind. _Fang. _

I awoke in a dog crate. As soon as I opened my eyes, smell that I knew so well invaded my nose and made my heart pick up speed and my stomach churn. I knew exactly where I was. The School. Panic set in as I fought to keep down last night's meal of leftover sandwich and granola bars. It was a fruitless fight, though, and the dizziness and nausea overwhelmed me, causing me to loudly puke in my own cage. Disgusting. I began to quietly hyperventilate, hoping that if my flock was around me, they wouldn't hear me struggling. I looked up, though, to see Dylan's facing mine, his large blue eyes wide and filled with panic. "Max!" He let out a distressed cry. Unable to speak or process anything, I just stared at him. Trying to snap back into leader mode, I looked around and attempted to analyze my surroundings. We were in a small room, surrounded dog crates that I assumed to hold the rest of my flock. Other than that, the only thing I could tell was that the room was lit by blinding florescent lights that hung overhead. The floors were a creepy white that glowed under the lights.

I quickly did a role call to be sure my whole flock was there, well minus the two obvious ones. I had to constantly remind myself not to call their names in my usual call and instead add Dylan's. "Iggy?"

"Here!"

"Dylan?"

"Right here."

"Nudge!"

"I'm okay Max!"

"Gazzy?"

"All good!"

"Total?"

"Here."

I sighed in relief at their safety. But then, someone called my name. It was quiet and unsure and came from my direct right. "Max?" It was a high pitched whisper and it made my heart soar. I knew who belonged to that voice.

**I little bit of a cliffy there! I hope you enjoyed and if not let me know why! Please review so I know if you like it or not! Thanks!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, here is chapter three! Thank you again to my awesome reviewer I love ya! And to my follower you are awesome :) Now onto the chapter:**

* * *

**Max**

"Angel?" I asked, daring to say her name for the first time in months. I whipped my head around to see through the side slits. I saw frightened blue eyes and messy blonde hair. Her pale, fragile hand was able to squeeze through her side holes.

"Oh my God sweetie! Are you okay?" I exclaimed, eager to get to her, but knew it would be impossible. "What did they do to you?" I growled.

She answered in a tiny voice, "Yeah, I'm okay. Just tired and weak. They poked and prodded me but nothing too serious. I- I'm not sure if I can fly though. I think they did something to my wings." She whimpered, "Max, I have so much to tell you."

"It's okay, as long as we are all together, we will be okay." I soothed.

The others had been listening to our conversation and I heard an excited chorus of "Angel!" Gazzy was the loudest, beyond happy to have his little sister back and in one piece. I saw her smile through the cage and I just wanted to hold her so badly. No matter how devious she was, I always loved her and had a special connection to her. I practically raised her as my own child after all.

"But Max," She continued hurriedly. "Jeb is here." She explained, "And Ari and the other Erasers. They are practicing with them to fight. They-they…they take all the kids who didn't come out the way they wanted and use them for Eraser practice. They're training them." She was on the verge of tears now.

"It's okay, Angel" I soothed, "I know. They do sick things here."

"No! Listen to me! I have to tell you." She practically cut me off, "And I'm sorry but Dr. Martinez is here. She's one of them!"

"No-" I began. My mom wasn't one of them, she couldn't be.

"Yes! She's working with Jeb and the 99% plan! And their goal is to _KILL FANG!_" She sobbed as my heart stopped. She kept going, though, "It's-it's something about his DNA. It could change the world. It has immortal powers that they believe are too dangerous. That's what this is all about here! They want to know if we have it too and what else we are capable of! They're going to kill us all! The end of the world is coming soon, I can see it!" By now she was in full blown tears and was unable to continue speaking. I took in all the information she has just blurted out in silence, mulling it over.

My brain flipped and flopped every which way, trying to think clearly. All I could comprehend, though, was that they were after Fang and I had no idea where he was or what he was doing or if he was even alive. I stared at her before throwing up again right in my cage.

Hours later of sitting in a stinking cage, but surrounded by my family, I drifted into sleep as the others did around me, having nothing else to do to pass the time. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I closed my eyes and immediately fell to sleep.

My dreams were strange and confusing. I was lost in a maze and every direction I turned ended up at a dead end facing Ari with frightening glowing eyes. The entire time, I heard shouts overhead from my flock for help. After running for what felt like hours in the gray, endless maze, I collapsed around another corner to find Jeb. He stood tall and menacing in front of me. He wore a white lab coat and glasses. He gave me a slight, cunning smile as if he knew things I did not. In his hands he held a child, dangling it useless by the back of its onesie. It wasn't any normal baby, though. From its back spurted tiny black wings like Totals and it had dark hair and dark eyes. It was crying at the cold abuse from Jeb. It looked like Fang as a baby.

"Hello Max." He cooed smugly, "look what I have." My eyes flickered between him and the baby Fang. Something inside of me told me that I needed to save this baby, protect it with all my might, but I wasn't sure why. I narrowed my eyes in thought. "Oh Max," he continued, "Maximum. You are my daughter whether you like it or not. You're my flesh and blood, just like Ari. I know what you're thinking. You're confused, trying to figure me out and planning on how to save this from my evil grasp." He shook baby Fang violently, making him cry even more. "I'm disappointed in you, though. I assumed you more rational, but it looks as if I overestimated you. The fate of the world is in your hands and you've just messed up big time, kid." He paused and once again I could hear the cries of my flock for help overhead. He then took out a needle from his coat pocket and brought it dangerously close to the kid's neck. "You see this child? Whatever happens to it is entirely your fault, just remember that." He gave me an evil grin and kept his eyes locked in mine as he began to plunge the needle in the baby's neck.

"No!" I lunged forward in a desperate attempt. I then woke up with a start, huddled in the back corner of my crate. I cold sweat covered my body as I shivered overwhelmed with dizziness. Thankfully, I didn't throw up this time. My sudden cry woke Dylan up across from me.

"Max, are you okay? What happened?" For some reason I couldn't look him in the eye, knowing his gaze was filled with love and concern. I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise.

"Yeah, just a dream," I replied, looking down.

Just then, a door leading into the room flung open with full force and I heard footsteps enter the room. The black shoes stopped in front of my cage as the entire room, now awake, was frozen in silence of anticipation. I couldn't see who it was, but it was a whitecoat for sure. He flung the door open and before I could move, yanked me out by the back of my shirt and threw a bag over my head. I growled and screeched in rage as the others began to move in panic. He grabbed me close and whispered in my ear, "don't worry, it's me. Just come with me, I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

It was the voice from my dream, the voice of the man who dares to call me his father. One of the most slimy, deceptive, and untrustworthy people I know. _Jeb. _His promises meant less than nothing to me. He moved quickly and violently, though, dragging me through a door and outside. Once we were out, he grabbed my hand and ripped the bag off my head. I noticed we had gone out a back door and were around the back side of the building, facing the woods. He spoke quickly so I wouldn't sock him in the face and fly away. I wasn't going anywhere, though. My flock was inside and the only way in was to swipe the card hanging around his neck.

"Okay, listen. We had to come out here to talk because they are watching and listening to everything we do. I had to seem like I was taking one of you somewhere to get tests so it wouldn't look suspicious. I'm sorry." He was _sorry? _Did Jed just _apologize _to me? About putting a bag over my head and dragging me outside. Of all the things he needed to apologize for! "But we need to talk," He continued, "because despite what you think I care about you, Max." I rolled my eyes. If that wasn't the biggest pile of bull crap I'd ever heard, I don't know what was.

"Spit it out already, what do you want Jeb?" I snarled.

He sighed uncomfortably, "Max, now I have no right to judge you, I know, and act like a real and normal father would in this situation, but I just need to make sure you are going to be okay." What the _Hell _was he getting at? "Remember when I told you that you and Dylan were supposed to create heirs for the new world? Well I didn't mean that I wanted it done now, in fact, I had to fight Dr. H-G against forcing it to happen in the immediate future. You're just a teenager…" His voice trailed off as he got lost in thought.

"Okay….and?" I asked, curious as to where he was taking this and slightly uncomfortable about this topic. I really didn't want to talk about this with anyone, especially Jeb. It just weirded me out.

"Well, when we found you in the woods and took you back here, we took blood samples from each of you to see what was going on with your bodies…and Max your results drew up a red flag…we know." He said uncomfortably. He _knows? _He knows what? That I'm part bird? Well whoopdie-freaking-do! I had no idea!

"Jeb, what on earth are you saying?"

He didn't let me continue and kept talking, "And I know that you and Fang have feelings for each other, but they all want and expect you to be with Dylan because that's what he was made for. But Max, I know how stubborn you are and I know you would follow what you feel and not care about those people, but I just need to know…"

"Need to know _WHAT?" _I practically screeched, completely confused as to what was happening. What did he care about Fang or Dylan? And what was in my results? Was Fang really my soul mate? Was it something they found in my DNA? My heart fluttered nervously thinking about it.

His face fell in confusion, "Max, do you really not know what I'm talking about? You have no idea?" I shook my head, waiting for an explanation. He took in a deep breath before answering, "Max…you're pregnant." My entire body froze. _What?_ As I was trying to process this, he kept speaking, "Now listen, this is what I wanted to talk to you about. You have two options here. They're going to ask you if it's Fang's or Dylan's. If it's Dylan's they are going to keep you here and run tests on you and the baby as it develops. They're also going to keep Dylan here too to observe more of his DNA and prep you two for the world after this one is destroyed. If its Fang's…well they're going to get rid of it. They have no interest in it. And, again, they will keep you here until they decide what they want to do next with you. In both options I have no idea what will happen to the rest of the flock, I'm sorry. And if you lie and say its Dylan's when it's not, they will run DNA tests when it's born. And if they find Fang is the father, there will be consequences, I promise." Now _that's _a promise I believed. "I have no idea nor do you need to tell me right now whose it is, but I wanted to tell you your options for your sake and the baby's."

He looked at me, waiting for a response that I don't think I could muster up. "I'm…pregnant?" I squeaked. Now it all made sense, the emotions, the nausea and dizziness, the tiredness, and I had actually gained weight. And not like it was ever regular, but I hadn't gotten my period in a while. My gaze flickered down to my stomach, now that I had accepted the fact it had grown a little. It was tiny, probably only noticeable by me, but that was more than enough to freak me out. I was very skinny to begin with so any extra weight, even if it was just a couple of pounds, made me feel fatter. "Oh my God." I whispered, unsure how to feel. Of course I knew who the father was and I would be in big trouble if I didn't get out of here fast. Memories of that night came rushing back at me like a tidal wave.

It was back in Paris, the night before Angel was supposed to sneak into the Doomsday Group and learn about their plans. Earlier that day, we had gotten into yet _another _fight. Out of nowhere I had snapped in the elevator "How could you stop loving me?" and he looked at me like I had ten heads. We had then gotten into an argument, me obviously jealous of Maya and him jealous of Dylan. We were just filled with so much rage we couldn't control it and of course the others had heard us as we were screaming in the elevator once it had reached our floor. Later that night, after we had all gone back to our rooms, I couldn't sleep thinking about everything and worried about Angel going over to the Doomsday Group. So, I sat on my bed and watched TV, munching on crackers aggressively in my pajamas and trying to not think. Then, I heard a knock on the door leading out to my balcony. That's right; I had my own private balcony. I looked over to see Fang standing there awkwardly. I sighed, wondering what he wanted and curiously went over and let him in. "What do you want?" I snapped.

"We need to talk," he demanded as he barged into my room. Great.

"Alright. Fine. But what else is there to talk about?" I folded my arms up against my chest.

"I just…need to get everything out in the open and cleared up about what's going on between us." He responded, mimicking my movements subconsciously.

"Okay then, I'll tell you. You freaking left me when I needed you. Just up and left with only a stupid letter as an 'explanation.' You freaking tore my heart out, Fang! You just ripped it out and stomped all over it. If only you could have seen the pain I was in. After everything in our entire lives we had gone through together, you just walked away. You were the _one _person I could trust! Now who can I rely on? Nobody! You should have seen how weak and pathetic you left me, like an idiot. And then you had the nerve to run off and get all cozy and romantic with my _freaking clone_! You just think you can call me up and say 'oh hey, I know I completely devastated you, but let's meet up and I'll bring my girlfriend who happens to be you and we can just talk strategy like nothing is wrong.' Ugh, you're such an idiot. I'm such an idiot! I _loved _you Fang!" By now I was spitting mad and picked up the nearest thing to me which happened to be the box of crackers and flung it at his head. Unfortunately, he did have intense reflexes thanks to being genetically enhanced so he dodged it but the crackers did go flying across the room.

"Loved?" he asked softly.

"Yes! Loved! With a 'd' as in past tense! But not like it's an emotion you have ever known or anything." I growled back as I marched up closer to him.

He then laughed bitterly, "Max, you are so thickheaded! How can you not see that I've always loved you? Always have, always will." He remarked, "And I can see that clearly you've moved on to your boyfriend who was genetically created to love you! And congrats, by the way, on having his children and all." That last part really got to me.

I pushed my face closer to his and now our noses were touching and we were both breathing heavily from the fight. Something inside of me snapped. I smiled playfully and his face turned into a confused expression. "Oh, you're just jealous that the farthest you've made it was second base." I taunted, "You have no idea what Dylan and I have done." In reality, Fang and I had gone farther than Dylan and I ever had, but it was fun to tease him. And it got to him, his jaw twitched.

By now our breathing had gotten down and we were in a steady synced rhythm. Our faces were still pressed up against each other, though and he smirked back. "That pansy would never dare try anything. And you wouldn't let him, either. I know you Max, you're bluffing."

_I know you Max. _Those words hung in the air and he was completely right. He knew me inside and out just as I knew him. We were both still shaking in anger and we weren't sure what to do with it, so in that instant our lips made contact. And it was the most amazing thing I'd ever felt. I could literally see sparks behind my closed eyes. It was filled with so much passion, all the things we felt and couldn't stay. And we didn't stop at a simple kiss. The longer we kissed the more passionate it became and the more I wanted. As we kissed I jumped up, wrapping my legs around his waist and his arms holding me there. He began to move forward towards the bed and we never let our lips go as he lowered me down onto it, coming up on top of me. Now completely out of breath, he flopped down next to me and we laid there for a second, breathing heavily. I felt like I was in heaven. It was the most exhilarating thing I'd felt in maybe, ever. We turned back towards each other and began again; we got up, kneeling on the bed and still kissing all the while. He put his strong powerful hands of my hips and slowly brought them up under my shirt, making me tingle. When he reached my bra, he began to move tenderly back towards the clasp.

"Yes," I whispered excitedly as he began to take it off, letting it fall around my knees. I kicked it off the bed. One article of clothing down. I allowed his hands to roam freely, enjoying every second of it. I lifted my hands up, allowing him to pull my shirt off completely and he flung it somewhere across the room. Next I went after his shirt and pulled it off, exposing his beautifully scarred chest and intense muscles. He was the most perfect creature I'd encountered. I slipped my hands down and grabbed at his belt, wanting him so badly. I slipped it off and plopped it next to the bed.

"Max." He whispered passionately. It sent tingles up my spin the way he said my name as if it was the most beautiful word on earth. That single word was full of love and desire and I was only too happy to oblige. Sure Fang always made my knees weak and filled me up with burning love, but this experience was at a whole new level than we've ever gone before. Both physically and emotionally. We took turns flinging each other's clothes across the room until we were both naked and exposed.

He then gently yet powerfully and gracefully fell back on the bed on top of me and I was completely ready.

The next morning, I woke up under the sheets, cuddled up to a naked, sleepy Fang in the morning light. Not a bad way to wake up, if you ask me. We looked into each other's eyes, thinking about the night before and not regretting it one bit. It was perfect and in that moment I loved him and that's all that mattered. He gave me one of his to-die-for smiles and my heart melted as I couldn't help but lean in and kiss him one more time.

"Hey," He mumbled, "Good morning."

"Hey," I smiled back. The moment only lasted a few quick seconds though, because the next thing we heard was banging on my thankfully locked door.

"Max!" I heard Nudge's voice and froze, panic creeping in as Fang made the same face. These kids were totally capable of barging into the room at any second and I really didn't want to have to explain this.

"Yeah?" I croaked, on edge, "What's up?"

"Well everyone is down at breakfast, but Fang. Even his lazy gang is here! We think he ditched again!" She explained. "How come you aren't down here either?" she asked with innocent curiosity.

I heard Iggy give a whistle and Fang smirk. "Shut up," I whispered, punching him in the shoulder as we hid under the blankets. This was not funny.

"Uh," I began, "I was just getting ready and making sure our plans were perfected. Sorry sweetie, I'll be down in two minutes." I tried to explain and Fang grinned more at my lie. "As for Fang…why don't you go to his room and find him?" I asked, giving him a pointed look. She shrugged, "okay well Iggy is coming in; he needs toothpaste." Fangs eyes grew wide knowing Nudge was going to his room and before I had even a chance to respond, Iggy had knocked down the door. I felt bad admitting it, but in this moment I was so glad he was blind.

"Hey Max." He said as he entered, "where are you? I really do need toothpaste." Stealthily and Fang-like, he slipped out of bed and covered up with a blanket. He gave me a look as we gazed around the messy room with crackers all over the floor, clothes strewn around, pillows and blankets half-on half-off the bed, a lamp knocked off the side table (oops), and the TV remote broken on the floor after it had fallen off the bed. As Iggy walked forward, he began stepping on some of these objects and frowned in curiosity. In the meanwhile, Fang was silently tiptoeing around him to at least grab his boxers and jet out the balcony door before Nudge found his room empty. It was quite the scene that I had to force myself to stop laughing.

"Sorry Iggy, I'm on the bed." I said, slipping out of the covers and wrapping them around me. Sure Iggy was blind, but it still felt weird being completely naked in front of him. "Wait right there and I'll get it for you." I said, tiptoeing around the mess. Trying to avoid Iggy, Fang and I smacked right into each other, landing on the floor with a thud.

"Max, are you okay? What's going on in here? What am I even stepping on? Is that a lamp shade? Dude, this is so unfair I can't see!"

I looked down at Fang who gave me a smart-ass half smile. "Can't get enough of me?" He whispered jokingly. I hit him repeatedly as I practically chased him out.

Iggy seemed to stare directly at me and smiled, "Is someone in here?" He asked, "Fang?"

I froze in horror as I pushed Fang out the door in nothing but his underwear. "No, shut up Ig. Nobody is in here! I just had trouble sleeping last night you know, with everything that's been going on and, uh, got angry and threw a few things." Sure it was probable that I would do that, but it was one of the worst lies I had ever told. "Ew and why would it be Fang? I hate that idiot, he probably did skip town knowing him." Before going out the door Fang gave me a play hurt face. "Oh my God, get out of here!" I whispered to him as he opened the door silently, unfurled his dark, beautiful wings and pushed off into the sky, swooping down powerfully to his own balcony. I watched him go while still trying to hold a conversation with Iggy.

"Don't worry Max your secret is safe with me." He laughed playfully as I stormed over to the bathroom to grab some toothpaste.

"I have no secrets!" I screeched as I thrust the tube into his hand. "Now get out of here and I don't want to see your stupid face again. And you're going to pay for this door!" I hollered as he walked out chuckling.

The rest of the time we were in Paris the two of us didn't speak about it and simply pretend it didn't happen and that it wasn't the most amazing night of our lives, but we both knew. Once we had gotten that sexual frustration out of the way, we actually got along quite well. There were the secret glances and brushing up against each other, but no giveaways. And luckily, Iggy thought he was just kidding when he said that he knew my secret because he never brought it up again. Fang even comforted me after we thought Angel died although he did take off again and I was devastated. Little did either of us know what the consequences of that one night would be and I wondered if he would ever find out.

I was brought back to the present where Jeb was letting me take all this information in. "Now, Max, we're going to go back inside so if you'll cooperate now"-I didn't let him finish and simply just kicked him in the stomach hard, knocking him over. There was no way I was going back with him. I just needed the card to get in and free the flock. "Max-"He coughed as he attempted to get up, but I didn't let him because I socked him in the jaw.

"If you think that I'm just going to walk back inside with you then you've really lost it." I growled at him and went to take the string holding the card from around his neck, but he expected it and had a tranquilizer needle ready to plunge into me. Well, it was a good thing that I expected that as well and I quickly knocked it out of his hand, scooped it up, and plunged it into him within seconds.

* * *

**So the news has been revealed! I hope you liked this chap and you will be reading more from Fang in the future! :) Please let me know if you liked or not! Review! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**On to chapter four! I hope you liked the last one and omg I just love my reviewer, WithoutWings! Thank you so much and I hope to see more people reviewing because that would make me even happier! I hope this chapter is review worthy!**

* * *

_Max_

Once he was out, I threw the bag over his head and grabbed the card, swiping it to unlock the door. I ran in, knowing we were on camera, and began to unlock all the cages, ignoring the cheers and questions from my flock. "Everyone just hold on. I'll explain later!" I shouted, "We just need to get out of here!" Adrenaline flowed through my veins and I was back in my natural environment- busting out of creepy science labs and kicking butt. This was much easier to handle than emotions or relationship problems. Once everyone was out, I picked up Angel and barged out the door past a passed out Jeb. We did an up and away and without taking time to speak, bolted away as fast as possible. My flock knew to act now and talk later. It was what kept you alive.

After about twenty minutes of silent speeding away, I addressed Angel. "Hey baby, how are you doing?" I asked softly. She was frighteningly light. As I said that, though I had a strange feeling in my gut, as if it wasn't right to call Angel my baby anymore seeing as I really was going to have one that actually was my biological child. I still couldn't wrap my mind around the thought. Me and Fang. Again, memories of that night came rushing back to me. I wondered where he was now.

Well with Angel being gone, I hadn't have had to worry about keeping my thoughts hidden and could think freely so I nearly fell out of the sky when I heard Angel audibly gasp. "Max!" She hissed, "Come on, you have a mind reading seven-year-old here, please keep your thoughts PG rated!" I felt bad and embarrassed that she had to witness my thoughts of basically Fang and I having sex, but I wasn't used to having her around and it was going to take me a while to get back into the habit of not thinking about that stuff when she was around.

"Sorry kid, but you're going to have to learn how to block out my thoughts if you don't want to see a naked Fang again." I couldn't help but laugh. "I've got a lot going on right now so it's going to be hard for me to control my thoughts."

"Max?" She asked quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Are you and Fang going to have a baby?"

I sighed heavily, "Yeah. We are. I really messed up sweetheart and I don't know how I'm going to fix it. After all, I'm supposed to have Dylan's kids and Fang is supposed to die." I chuckled bitterly, "I guess I'm so outdated it's all I'm good for at this point. You know, after I casually save the world."

"That's what you and Jeb were talking about?" She asked.

"Yeah. They were going to keep us for tests so I had to get us out of there. And they were going to be angry if they found out the father is Fang." I replied sadly.

"They were going to kill it." She said, reading my thoughts.

"Yup." I said. That was really all there was to say. "Just don't any anything, okay? I'll tell everyone when the time is right."

"Of course Max." She agreed, "And Max?"

"Yeah, Ange?"

"I think it will be fun being an aunt." She smiled.

I had to laugh, "Yeah, well I see lots of babysitting in your future." She giggled too and snuggled in closer to me, eventually drifting off into sleep. I watched her and realized I was exhausted too.

Then, Dylan caught up to us, "Hey how is she? I saw that you guys were talking."

"She's okay." I replied, "She just needs rest and food. She's so thin." I wearily looked down at her as Dylan studied me.

"You look tired, let me take her." He stretched his arms out and we flew in sync so that it was a perfect hand off of her sleeping body.

"Thanks." I mumbled, "We should probably land soon so I can explain what is going on to everyone and we can all get some food and rest. We're heading south now, just outside of San Francisco so we can land and call it a day, I'd say. We need to decide our next move. It's time we get out of hibernation and back to figuring out all this doomsday and 99% plan stuff." I was actually happy to go back into business mode because it distracted me from all my other problems. Except my pregnancy was something that was actually going to become more a problem, not go away. I'd deal with that when the time came, though.

We landed in the woods just outside of a town and then walked the rest of the way until we found a motel. Once we'd checked in, the girls and I went to our room while the boys had their own next to us. Angel was still sleeping so I rested her on one of the beds and decided I would share that one with her and give Nudge, who was a diva anyway, the other one. I tucked the little girl in and then turned to face Nudge who was already raiding candy out of the mini fridge. She looked up at me and grinned. "You know that's not free." I informed her.

"I know." She replied.

I shrugged, "Yeah, well give me some of that!" I flopped onto the bed with her and she laughed as I stole a Snickers out the box, realizing how hungry I was. I wondered if I was going to have to start "eating for two" or whatever pregnant women say as an excuse to eat a ton of random food all the time. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had no idea what I was doing.

"So Angel is back." Nudge said gleefully as she watched the blonde girl sleep.

"Yeah." I said affectionately; see there are those damn hormones again. Even Nudge gave me a strange look at my sappy tone. "And you better leave some for her because she's going to be starving when she wakes up. The poor thing looks like she wasn't fed the entire time she was there."

Later that afternoon, Angel had woken up and after being washed and fed, she was able to walk around, but we still hadn't tested out her wings. I looked them over and saw that they seemed fine, but she said they did experiment on them. Just before dark, I took her outside to try them. "Alright sweetie," I said, "We're just going to see if anything really is wrong with them, okay?"

She nodded. "I'll be right here, so I want you to try to fly. Go on, just flap and see what happens." I ordered. She was very weak, but slowly she started to flap them and her fluffy white feathers swayed up and down as her wings began to beat faster and more powerfully. Then, she was able to lift herself inches off the ground.

"Max! Look!" She exclaimed happily, "I'm off the ground!"

"Great job, now try to go a little higher and go forward." I told her. And she did just that. As her wings became more accustomed to the movement, she went higher and higher. Then, she was going forward, backward, up, down, and every other direction. We even went for a little joy ride together.

"I can't believe they are okay Max!" She laughed happily in the wind. I had to smile too at the sight of the little girl's joy. "Wheee!" She took off in front of me and then we raced home. Of course, with my super speed I could outfly anyone, but I stayed right with her. She could read my mind and knew I was holding back, but we were just having so much fun she didn't care. It was just like old times. I was almost sad when we got back to the motel and had to land because that meant I was back in reality and had to face my problems.

_Fang_

Ratchet, Holden, and I sat in a café in San Francisco. We were looking online for signs of where trouble might be. Holden was reading online articles while Ratchet was talking to people, asking about it and I scanned my blog. I still kept it up and it was interesting reading people's comments. They really did care about us and some of them actually gave helpful information. I yawned as I took a sip of coffee and continued to scroll through pages of comments. Finally, I came across an interesting one. It read: "Hey Fang! So I live in a town outside of San Francisco and I saw on your blog that you are going there. I just wanted to let you know that there have been rumors going around town of sighting of large, ugly, wolf creatures and it kind of sounded like what you call Erasers. I'm not sure if that's much help, but I'd thought I'd let you know and you could check it out if you wanted to. They're supposedly in the woods of my town of Novato. Good luck! –Elle D."

"Hey Holden!" I leaned over to him, "come read this. I think we should check it out." He read the comment and nodded his head.

"Okay boss sounds good. I'll go find Ratchet and tell him." With that Holden got up and went to look for him.

I leaned back and read some more comments one particularly hit me hard, "Hi Fang. I read about Angel and I'm really sorry about her! I can tell you loved her even if she was a little crazy. And now you and Max are split up again! What is wrong with you two? Just get together already, please! Her little girl is gone and she probably needs your support more than ever now! Forget Dylan. Go after Max! I believe in you two! - Anna J."

I read the comment and felt a stab of regret. Maybe Anna was right. But at the same time, the entire world was at stake. How could I just forget that and go home to Max? Paris was a total disaster and a bad idea. Well, not all of it. I thought about that night we spent together. Her beauty, her touch, her lips pressed against mine, she was so exposed and so amazing. I could wake up with our bodies pressed up against each other like that every day of my life. And the sex. It was just perfect. All that pent up emotion we had was just poured into the act and it was just so passionate and exhilarating. I ached for her presence here now and the more I thought about it the more I regretted leaving her. I wondered if she just went right back to Dylan when we separated or actually thought about it like I did all the time. I really did love her.

Holden and Ratchet came back and sat down with me. "Alright," Ratchet rubbed his hands together. "So who's ready to kick some more Eraser butt?"

The next morning, we took off for Novato. We arrived in about an hour in our falling apart van. We got out of the car when we reached the forest Elle had told me about. "So…what now?" Ratchet asked, "Do we go in and look for them or do we wait for them to come to us?"

I shook my head, "No. We're going in there and we're facing those flea bitten bastards." With that, I marched in, not caring about anything but killing Ari.

After hours of trekking through the woods, Holden plopped down on a rock in the middle of a clearing. "Dude we've been walking so long." He panted, "Can't we just take a break?"

"Yeah, I agree with the Starfish." Ratchet took a seat as well. I felt as if I could have gone forever, but I agreed and let them have their rest. It didn't last long, though, because after a few minutes we were joined by my old friend Ari and his pack of mutants at last.

They swooped down and landed all around us, enclosing us in the clearing. "A little birdy told me you were looking for me" Ari laughed a deep, scratchy laugh at his own "birdy" joke.

"Yeah, that's right. I'm going to make you pay for what you've done." I growled angrily.

Ari just laughed again. "Oh yeah? You and what army? You see, you forget that this isn't your invincible flock. As we've already discovered, you've got quite the gang of fragile cowards." He taunted. "We could easily bring you down in a matter of seconds. Oh, speaking of the flock, I had a little run-in with your ex about a few weeks ago. And let me tell you, she is _not _looking too good. Although I have to give her credit, she did break all of them out of the School including the little blond one; Angel is it? Only took about two days. I believe it's a record and they would have stayed there if it weren't for our idiot father who practically let her escape. He always did like her better for some reason." Ari knew he had gotten to me and waited while I slipped out of attack stance and processed what he just said. What did he mean she's not looking good? What was wrong with Max? And Angel was alive? They were at the school? Where were they now? My heart was a rollercoaster at the moment.

My opponent smirked. "I've got you all excited now, don't I? Too bad you won't be around for the reunion." And with that he and all his goons attacked us. We did our best to fight them off and I kicked and punched left and right, on the ground and in the air, but to no avail. There were too many of them and not enough of us. Ratchet was looking pretty beat up and weak and Holden could only hold off so many at once. I was focused on Ari, but I just couldn't seem to find him anywhere. Just when I honestly thought we were going to lose, the four Erasers that had me pinned down were suddenly swept off me and went flying sideways, knocked off by something that fell from the sky.

Stunned, I scrambled up just in time to hear, "Freaking bozos. Learn to pick on people your own size." I recognized the voice better than my own. I looked over to see the back side of a tall girl with long light brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She turned on the heel of her beat up sneakers and began to dust herself off while the Erasers darted off into the woods. As soon as she was completely turned, we made eye contact and I was suddenly lost in those beautiful brown eyes. It was Max.

_Max_

We had been staying in the motel for a while as Angel healed and she was pretty much back to her normal size and strength. I, on the other hand, was growing out of my size. At almost four months pregnant, nobody but me could really tell the transformation I was going through. Well, no body except Angel. But I wasn't really showing yet, except in my boobs. I was always on the flat side, but now they were popping out of my bras. Yeah, even Dylan the perfect boy who would never do anything un-gentlemanly, would stare at times. Hey, I would stare too. This was only the second time in my life that I was glad Iggy was blind, I swear, because if that sexist pig could see them, he'd definitely say something. And openly stare 24/7. It was a good thing Gazzy was too young for that. Other than that, my morning sickness was somewhat beginning to go away and I was becoming a super expert at hiding it. Even Dylan didn't suspect a thing.

We were going for a joy ride when I looked down at a clearing in the woods we were flying over on our way to the beach. I nearly froze when I saw what was happening. Undoubtedly, there were Erasers. And it looked like they were attacking people! "Dylan!" I called, "Look down!" And my entire flock looked down and gasped in shock.

"We've got to help them!" Nudge called. It looked like there were only three of them against a pack of Erasers.

"Angel," I addressed her, "Can you pick up anything down there? What's going on?"

She looked down and frowned, "I can't really tell. There's too much going on at once. Too many thoughts all screaming at me. I'm sorry Max. But mostly above all is simply 'Kill." Yeah that sounded about right.

"Alright, we have to go in there okay?" I asked and they nodded, assuming positions. "Ready. Attack!" And with that we all dived down simultaneously in perfect 'V' form. Closest to me, it looked as if maybe four Erasers were tackled on one of the guys. I needed to knock them off so I used my super speed to gain enough momentum to knock them all off at once using my body weight. And it worked. I collided with the first one and they all went flying with me, crashing into the woods. Stunned and injured, they scrambled away as fast as they could. Boy that felt good to see Erasers running from me once again.

"Freaking bozos. Learn to pick on people your own size." I muttered as they ran and I dusted myself off as I turned to face my damsel in distress. I wondered why they were picking on random people anyway. When I turned, though, I realized they weren't. The damsel in distress was more of a distressing damsel to me. Because I found myself looking straight into the eyes of Fang.

He stood there just as dumbfounded as me. Sure, he looked a little beat up and bloody, but he looked the same nonetheless. On the other hand, he could tell I looked different as his eyes flickered confused up and down me. We didn't really have time for a greeting, though because an Eraser was creeping up on him. "Watch out behind you!" I called as he whipped around just in time to doge an attack and was able to send it flying from a kick in the jaw.

And we went back to old times. Kicking the living snot out of Erasers. I noticed that the other two with him were Ratchet and Holden from his gang and I didn't really have time to wonder what had happened to the others and I saw my flock, even Angel fighting hard alongside them. In order to defeat them, we were going to have to all work together. Even Fang and I. So in unison, we took to the skies and a few Erasers followed, but we were ready. As if we hadn't stopped doing this for a day, we went back to fighting back-to-back. I kicked and punched and dodged and I could feel him behind me doing the same. We had been at it for a while when I heard a ferocious howl behind me and did a 360 to find Ari pelting full force at Fang. We both surged up to avoid it, but he managed to snag Fang's shoe and the two of them plummeted to the ground. My heart stopped. I had just gotten Fang back; there was no way I was going to lose him again. And this time it would be permanent.

I zoomed in at super speed again and caught up, kicking Ari in the wing and snapping it just before they hit the ground. He yelped in pain and I grabbed Fang's arm and pulled him upward as hard as I could. As soon as he was un- paralyzed from shock, he began to flap and I was able to let go. "Thanks." He breathed.

"Anytime." I huffed back. He gave me an odd look, but I zoomed back down to avoid dealing with him at the moment and to help my flock below. I took out an Eraser that Angel was battling and got ready for the next one when I heard Dylan call my name. Angel gave me a reassuring nod and I flew over to Dylan.

"What's up?" I asked and he pointed to Ari who had crashed into a tree and now suffered a bleeding head and broken wing.

"Give it up Ari" I warned, "Or I will kill you." I stared down my mutant half-brother who was actually not much older than Angel. I was in no mood to play around. You threaten me; I kick your ass and make you never forget. You threaten my flock; you die. He eyed me and I stared him down, trying to fight of the feelings of sadness that I felt for him, looking into his sad young eyes. I was not going to let my emotions take over. Not now.

"Fine. Do it. I don't care. Get me out of my misery. Nobody, not even my own father cares about me. I'm pathetic, trying to please him when he only ever cared about you." Ari snarled weakly.

"Just get out of here." I ordered and picked him up off the ground, shoving him towards the woods. "Give _Dad _a message for me. Tell him that I get to make my own decisions in life and that I'm never coming back." Feeling pumped on adrenaline, I grabbed Ari by the scruff of his neck and growled into his face, "now call your flea bags off." With that, I let him go.

"Troops! Retreat!" He called out hoarsely as the fighting stopped and they turned and darted back into the woods behind Ari. I turned around to see the faces of Fang and Dylan staring dumbfounded at me. I was hoping that had brought be back to bad-ass leader status.

Suddenly, though I heard Nudge squeal, "FANG!" And all heads turned this way as she ran up to him and engulfed him in a hug, not caring that his blood was dripping all over her clothes.

"Dude you're back!" Iggy called out as Gazzy dragged him over to greet him next. And finally, Angel, thankfully unharmed, flew over and landed in his arms. He held her close as she buried her face into his chest. Even Total ran over to greet him. The reunion of the flock was complete. I watched my family together again and my heart swelled up with happiness. It had been so long since we were whole again and for once in a very, very long time, I felt like everything was perfect. Even though it was far from it.

Once they all let go, Fang turned to look at me. He was still trying to figure what was different about me, I could tell. One thing I did notice was that he could tell my breasts were larger. Yeah, I hope he got a good look because it was him that did this to me. Little did he know that the extra weight I had put on up there was because of his unborn child I was carrying. Pig. Fang Jr., as I had creatively named it, was also peeking out a tiny bit in my lower abdomen but it was only noticeable because I was out of clothes that didn't smell so was forced to wear a simple white tank top that three months ago hugged my skinny stomach making me look like a freaking model.

He gave me a smile that only belonged to Fang and opened his arms to which I came running at full force. I missed him so much and thought I'd never be able to see him again and feel his embrace. I buried my face into his shoulder and wanted to crawl into it forever. "I can't believe you're alive." I half sobbed, half whispered.

"Of course I am. I'm not going anywhere." He pulled me in tight and I could feel him wince as he tried to use his bloodied shoulder to hold me. Unfortunately, though, I could feel Dylan's eyes watching us and I tried not to squirm under his stare.

Once I was finally able to peel myself away from Fang, I had to turn around to see Dylan, his eyes locked on us. "I'm going to go make sure that they're gone." He announced and then turned around and headed off into the woods without looking back. I didn't care, though. Fang was back and my flock was happy. That was all I needed.

"Ugh," Ratchet finally spoke up from where he stood next to Holden. "You guys kind of freak me out, you know one minute loving each other the next hating each other's guts. And going around dating clones and other freaks who sing but then being jealous of the other one. So…we're just going to uh…follow him." Holden nodded in agreement as they took off into the woods in the direction Dylan had just come from. Things were silent for a minute after that awkward interruption.

Then, I clapped my hands together, "Alright you guys. This calls for a celebration! Let's get back to the motel and have a proper reunion! Nudge, order pizza! Iggy, bake the desserts! Gazzy and Angel, go clean up the room! Total…well do something useful." I said, not knowing what I could order him to do and that received laughs all around as Total huffed.

"I can most certainly be useful."

"Come with us, Total!" Angel said, picking him up and cuddling him as he licked her face.

"Alright, break!" I shouted as they all took off in separate directions. Fang and I watched our little gang of merry mutants go; and get this, actually chuckled. And for that split second in time, I thought things were going to start looking up.

* * *

**Let me know what you like, don't like, or feel indifferent about...idk. Review please! :)**


End file.
